Soldiering with Sherman:

The Civil War Letters of George F. Cram

Rare among Civil War accounts. Sergeant Cram's letters home reveal an educated young man's march with Sherman's army through the Confederacy. With the 105th Illinois Infantry, Cram fought in a number of key battles, including Resaca, Peach Tree Creek, and the March-to-the-Sea.

From a literary family and a Wheaton College student, Cram carried a copy of Shakespeare in his knapsack. While his letters recounted battle scenes in great detail, he also conveyed insights into the complex and impoverished society he encountered in the South. Civil War scholars and general readers alike will learn much from Cram's comments on slavery, the character of military leaders, geography, architecture, guarding the strategic L & N Railroad and women's role in society.

The close bonds between Cram and his close comrades, Tirtlot, Kingsley, and Bachelder, bring the long-ago face of the Civil War up close.

"Soldiering with Sherman" is the story of Cram and a community of young men who were coming-of-age and struggling to march on the proverbial "high ground" while staying alive in a war that would mark them and America for all time.